Skyfire 2.0 Beta for Android: Promising But Still No Hulu or Full Google Docs

Android’s built-in browser is very good. So, why would anyone need an alternative browser? Way back in November 2009 I installed the Dolphin Browser because it supported pinch-to-zoom before it was natively supported. However, I uninstalled it when pinch-to-zoom became available with Android OS 2.1-update1.

There are two main reasons why Android users might find this interesting:

1. Skyfire can transcode Flash on web page to allow Android users to view Flash videos without Adobe Flash installed. This advantage will disappear once Adobe provides Flash for Android. Note, however, that not all Flash content is viewable. Hulu, for example, will not display video in the Skyfire browser

2. Skyfire can identify itself as a desktop browser and avoid forcing you to view the mobile friendly version of a website. Once again, however, not all web pages designed for conventional desktop viewiing works. Google Docs, for example, does not work in this mode. If it had, it would have a solved a big problem for me: Working (editing) Google Docs documents on a mobile platform.

Despite these limitations, I’m going to keep Skyfire for Android on my phone in the hope that we see quick progress in its development and compatibility later this year.